WASHINGTON — Lufthansa and German trade officials say wait times at U.S. airports will discourage Europeans from traveling here, at a time when they are trying to build trade.

Jurgen Weber, chairman of Lufthansa's supervisory board, told reporters Tuesday that a Transportation Security Administration line that morning for a flight to Washington from New York's LaGuardia airport was hundreds of yards long.

And Weber said Customs and Border Protection lines coming into the U.S. also are long for foreign travelers.

Weber belongs to Global Entry, a U.S. background-check program to speed up Customs and Border Protection processing from overseas. But Lufthansa finds Customs waits at New York's JFK airport are more than two hours for its passengers, he said.

"Huge concerns," Weber said. "It's unbelievable that this nation at the helm of technology thinks about reducing the number of air-traffic controllers, the number of security people at the airport."

Longer lines stem from $85 billion in federal spending cuts that run from March 1 through Sept. 30.

For its share, the Department of Homeland Security cut overtime for Customs and TSA, which already lengthened lines at busy times of day.

"We will do everything we can to mitigate lines," Janet Napolitano, the secretary of Homeland Security, told reporters Tuesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "There will be lines."

Looming are Federal Aviation Administration plans to furlough air-traffic controllers one day from every two-week pay period starting in April, which is expected to delay flights.

The U.S. Travel Association surveyed 1,200 overseas travelers in late February and found 43% would recommend avoiding the U.S. because of the entry process. More than four out of five (84%) think the government could fix the problem.

Security delays rankle European travelers.

"Everybody is working hard to give the passenger a superior experience and at the point of arrival, after a wonderful flight, you are stuck for three or four hours," said Nils Haupt, a Lufthansa spokesman. "This is really unacceptable."

Thomas Zielke, CEO of the Representative of German Industry and Trade, which advocates for German companies in the U.S., said 3,500 companies that rely on flights for travel and deliveries are also disappointed with the waits.

"They have the same problem," Zielke said.

Weber said his wife suggested Tuesday that they avoid U.S. travel in the future.

"They cannot understand it," Weber said of passengers facing the waits. "I hope many people fly to the United States as customers of Lufthansa, but we also have to protect our customers."